Dear Grace Family: I cannot believe it, but Holy Week starts this coming Sunday! We are blessed this year because we will host the Living Last Supper at Grace for the first time in several years. Please plan now to attend all the Holy Week services, including Palm Sunday, Maundy Thursday, Good Friday and Easter. Our music department is going all out…

Dear Grace Family: Now that daylight savings time has arrived, spring and summer are coming soon! It is an exciting time in our community because we can anticipate the announcement of a new pastor for Grace, and that information will be available to everyone on April 14, 2024. Personally, I have tried to embrace change as part of life’s journey, and I…

Dear Grace Family: Last spring Grace UMC hosted our first annual classic car show. At the time, I had no idea what to expect because we had not hosted a car show before. The event was a big hit for the Merritt Island community, and we at Grace enjoyed hosting many people who had not previously visited our campus. The team of…

Dear Grace Family: The word “sloth” refers to one of the seven deadly sins as well as what one writer describes as the “sleepy, tree-dwelling species that has the slowest metabolism rate of any nonhibernating mammal in the world.” The connection between these references implies to me that what is sinful is a lack of movement, energy, commitment and enthusiasm. During Lent,…

Dear Grace Family: Have you ever noticed that people use many euphemisms to avoid saying someone has died? We may hear that they “passed on”, or they “bought the farm” or they “joined the church triumphant.” I have often been bothered by this reluctance to speak directly about death, but I could never articulate exactly why this bothered me. Rachel Mann is…

Dear Grace Family: Many of you attended previous performances of the Triumphant Quartet here at Grace. Those who did attend can attest that the group offers an uplifting, encouraging and faith-filled message. They have quite a following and the crowd’s enthusiasm adds to the whole experience. I mention this because we have the Triumphant Quartet performing in the Grace sanctuary starting at…

Dear Grace Family: One of our big goals at Grace UMC this year is to promote and grow our ministries to youth and children. This is so very important because sharing our faith with the next generation is essential to our mission. In furtherance of this goal, Ms. Niki has planned a family movie night for tonight, February 9, starting at 5:30pm…

Dear Grace Family: I am currently reading Adam Hamilton’s latest book, entitled “Wrestling With Doubt, Finding Faith.” Many of you know that I consider Adam Hamilton’s writing very consistent with my personal theology, and I appreciate his ability to simplify complex ideas. In his current book, Hamilton writes, “Christian Faith does not see God as a human-like being. It sees humans as…

Dear Grace Family: I have mentioned before that I enjoy the daily devotional writings of Fr. Richard Rohr. Recently, he wrote the following: “Having faith doesn’t have to do with being perfect. It has to do with staying in relationship, hanging in there, holding on to union as tightly as God holds on to us. It’s not a matter of being correct…

Dear Grace Family: Peter Marty, the editor of The Christian Century magazine, is one of my favorites. Recently, he wrote an article about the practices of faith. He said, “Faith is a way of life that acquires its layers and contours incrementally, often imperceptibly.” His point was that our faith grows deeper over time as we encounter relationships with people from all…